52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 45

While I have some photographs of male ancestors that I have collected over the years, I do not have one that I think qualifies for the writing prompt Bearded. Instead, I’ll talk about the three brothers who all looked very similar, right down to their stylish mustaches.

My maternal second great-grandparents, Joseph Henry Metz and Barbara (Karch) Metz of Insheim, Germany had nine children, four of whom were boys. The youngest boy, who was also the baby of the family, was my great-grandfather Peter Metz.

One child, Magdalena, died in Insheim, Germany when she was just two months old, but I believe all of the other children lived and died in the Cincinnati/Covington greater area following their emigration to America.

Nicholas, Barbara, Anna and Elisabeth

For three of the four boys, I have been able to locate photographs. The oldest child was Nicholas Metz, who was born in Insheim on 8 August 1842 and died in Cincinnati on 26 February 1920. He arrived in America in 1866, traveling with his mother and five of his siblings aboard the Fulton. By the 1870 census he was living in Cincinnati with his mother and three brothers, Joseph, John, and Peter. Nicholas married Carolyn Blanner, and they had four children: Magdalena, Rosa, John, and Mary. The photo shows him with his sisters Barbara Metz Zimmer, Anna Maria Metz Radenheimer, and Elisabeth Metz.

Joseph and Rosina

Joseph Metz was born 2 October 1853 in Insheim and he died 25 September 1925 in Cincinnati. He was on the same ship as his mother and siblings, arriving in America in 1866. In 1877 he married Magdelena Germann, and they had five children: William, John, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Helen. Joseph is pictured with his sister Rosina Metz Strassel.

Peter Metz (my great-grandfather) was born in Insheim 30 May 1862 and died in Cincinnati on 4 February 1935. He was only four years old when he arrived in America with his family. On 3 November 1887 he married Bridget Maher, and they went on to have five children: Helen, Mary (my grandmother), Alice, Stella, and Walter. He and Bridget are pictured, probably in the 1920s.

Peter and Bridget

What struck me first in looking at the photos is how much the three men resemble each other. The second thing I noticed is that they all wore their mustaches the same way. I have never seen a photograph of their father Joseph Henry Metz as he died of a bee sting in Insheim at the age of 43. It would be so interesting to see if his sons looked like him. And if he, too, favored wearing a mustache.

Nicholas, Joseph and Peter

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 44

Since we just celebrated Halloween, this week’s writing prompt is Frightening. Though we just had a television show with ghosts filmed in our house, we have not experienced any paranormal activity here nor have I heard of any ghost stories in the family. I did have a creepy experience in a cemetery when I was young though.

Price Hill United Jewish Cemetery

My Grandma and Grandpa Crusham lived on the north end of Rosemont Avenue in Cincinnati. The area was known as West Price Hill. Not too far past my Uncle Charlie’s house, which was easy walking distance from my grandparent’s home, was the entrance to Price Hill United Jewish Cemetery. Going through the cemetery was a short-cut to Rapid Run Park. As there was not much to do at Grandma’s, my brother, cousins and I would head to the park to play.

One day we stayed a little too long at the park, and it grew dark. As we were walking through the cemetery, one of my cousins began telling ghost stories. All of a sudden we heard a strange noise, and it wasn’t coming from any of us. Tha-wunk, tha-wunk, tha-wunk! What in the world could it be?

We began to walk faster, but it seemed we were heading towards the noise and not away from it. Our imaginations ran wild as we envisioned grave robbers opening a crypt, or murderers digging into the ground to dispose of a body. We began to run.

As we rounded a corner we came upon several boys approaching us. One of them was using a baseball bat like a walking stick. Tha-wunk, tha-wunk, tha-wunk! We laughed nervously as we passed them, and made fun of each other for being scared in the first place. But after that we made sure we were always on the way back to grandma’s house way before it got dark.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 43

The past few weeks I have been out of town and didn't have access to my genealogical information in order to write, so I am getting back in the swing of things with this post about Cause of Death. The most unusual and perhaps saddest cause of death that I have come across so far is that of my 2nd great-uncle, John A. Colgan. John was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in late June of 1880, and he died 22 August 1881 in Cincinnati at the age of 14 months. He was buried 23 August 1881 in Section 2, Lot 12, Part S, Range 10 of the Saint Joseph’s New Cemetery, where the rest of his family was also laid to rest.

His parents were Edward C. Colgan and Bridget (McHugh) Colgan, both of whom were born in Ireland and died in Cincinnati. John was the youngest of nine children, six of whom died in infancy or early childhood. On a death card which I found at the Cincinnati Department of Health, the cause of death for John was listed as “inanition”.

John A. Colgan death record

Inanition is the same as starvation, which is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient, and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition, which is the biggest contributor to child mortality. The most common cause of malnutrition is poverty. But were the Colgans impoverished?

On the 1880 census, taken on 10 June 1880, Edward Colgan was listed as being 45 years of age and working as a bookkeeper. His wife Bridget was 35 and a homemaker, and also living in the home were the following children: Catherine age 16, Charles age 11, Barbara age 9 and Clara age 7. (Clara died the next year of smallpox at the age of 8.) Obviously John was not yet born at the time the census was taken. This particular census year doesn’t indicate if those listed owned or rented their homes, though if someone was a boarder, that was noted. The Colgan family was not shown to be boarding at the home on Mill Street.

It would certainly seem like Edward would have been able to adequately provide for his family. What caused the baby to die of starvation? And how did these parents handle the loss of yet one more of their children?